A stone walkway complements an elegant cream-coloured portico. Red foliage and a pair of lush planters soften the look.

Photographer:

Angus Fergusson

Quaint Cottage Home

White hydrangea shrubs look stunning en masse.

Homeowners Ingrid Oomen and Asad Wali transformed the original cinder-block exterior of their Caledon, Ont., home by covering it with board-and-batten siding and adding a standing-seam metal roof. “I like pure materials. I like how they age and get a patina,” says Ingrid.

This new home by David Zacharko Architect features a cedar shake exterior that fits right into Vancouver.

Photographer:

Kim Christie

Designer:

David Zacharko Architect

Classic Victorian Home

Vary plant heights along an outdoor staircase.

The homes in this pocket of Larchmont, N.Y., combine Victorian design with summerhouse detailing. White railings and pillars define the timeless wraparound porch. The extra-wide steps and entryway create a welcoming hub for visitors.

In keeping with the wine country, Tuscan-style feel of the 2011 Princess Margaret Showhome, stucco covers the home’s exterior. Classic European architectural and garden features — French doors with working shutters, cornice mouldings and a casual pea-gravel patio — are key to the home’s quintessential country manor style.

H&H style editor Michael Penney transformed the façade of his Oshawa home with affordable plants and flowers, new shutters, and a freshly painted door and garage. He transplanted the iris from a seller on Craigslist and picked up peachy poppies from Walmart: smart ways to spend less when you’re starting a garden from scratch. He wanted to soften the stucco archway with a vine or climber, but didn’t want a trellis sticking out like a sore thumb all winter, so he opted for annual morning glory vines. Cheap yet durable painted-vinyl shutters and a few coats of Martha Stewart’s Spring Melt (MSL114) paint on the front door and garage add invaluable curb appeal. Read more about his front yard upgrade.

Read all about Michael’s new house — including before shots and DIY projects — in his blog, tour through each floor on Online TV, see the full story in our June 2011 issue, and browse all before and after photos in the online gallery.

When replacing windows and doors, save money by keeping the openings at the existing standard size.

Designer Arren Williams gave his boxy 1960s-era home a new look with modern energy-efficient windows, plus a new door, house number, mailbox, light, interlocking and low-maintenance grasses. Painting out the front brick and fieldstone façade a dramatic dark grey simplifies the exterior.

Scale is essential when working with small city spaces. This Montreal home features an intimate floral pathway filled with a myriad of flowering plants. A lively mix of textures — from feathery astilbes to leafy vines — adds interest and depth. A pair of vintage watering cans look sculptural when placed on the stairs.

This home’s soft grey palette creates a calm, neutral canvas for a gutsy bright yellow door. To keep the focus on the eye-catching entrance, the surrounding garden was kept simple and green. Perennials like sandcherry and “Limelight” hydrangeas add depth and variation, and better integrate the house to the street. Beds of hostas and impatiens edge either side of the walkway and draw the eye toward a welcoming seagrass stair runner.

This entrance features a pagoda-inspired gate, built of reclaimed barnboard and corrugated steel for the roof. A rustic twig lattice fence continues the Asian theme. Pea gravel and bonsai-type trees are reminiscent of an authentic zen garden and require minimal upkeep.

Lush groupings of potted plants provide an organic touch that’s often missing in the city.

While a few tiers of potted plants may not evoke picturesque pastures, grouping fragrant herbs with rambling ferns and flowers provides some natural relief from the city’s man-made surfaces and instantly softens the look of this front porch. Enhance the effect with a pair of lanterns and a cheerful striped runner.

Award-winning landscape designer Kim Price turned a bare plot into a dramatic, well-shaded and private space with only three types of plantings. An artful Corten steel frame turns four Flame Amur maple trees into living sculpture and delivers a powerful geometric hit to the front yard. The trees work to create privacy buffer between the yard and a park across the street, as well as reflect some of the sun’s heat away from the west-facing property. Towering maidenhair grasses planted along the property line form a far prettier divider than a fence.

Precast concrete slabs were used to form the framework for these garden beds, providing a smoother finish than concrete.

A staggered concrete path and benches create a strong architectural framework for plants and an inviting courtyard effect. The landscape architect — John Lloyd — also played with the grade of the landscape, using flowering shrubs as foundation planting and smaller plants closer to the street. The traditional redbrick house now blends beautifully with the contemporary landscaping.

In this front yard, a large concrete planter is wrapped in an 18″-high sleeve of burnished stainless steel and planted with a low hedge of emerald green boxwood, creating an interesting juxtaposition of sleek and rugged. To soften the look, Mexican river rock and lush coreopsis and hostas nestle at its foot.

An array of plants and trees resembles a hallway leading to the front entrance of this beautiful country home. Two small trees framing the end of the path mimic the idea of pillars, adding height to the natural display. A large stone walkway creates a polished, elegant look.

A delicate steel wire sculpture makes a strong and unexpected statement situated behind a slender picketed fence and boxwood hedge. Interlocking brick, laid in a herringbone pattern, is elegant and perfectly suited to the home’s Victorian architecture. Hits of black act as a modern counterpoint when incorporated in the planters, stair runner and door to create a handsome, organized façade.

Take advantage of every square foot in a garden with a variety of plants for sun, shade and everything in between. Nestled alongside a 12-foot-high granite outcropping, this shade garden is a tranquil oasis that features a cloak of lush greenery, punctuated by fuchsia and white accents.

Get more landscaping and garden design ideas in our Gorgeous Gardens photo gallery.

For maximum flexibility, combine container planters and flower beds when planning a garden. Container planters are easy to maintain, portable, and great for adding seasonal accents to your garden. Mix and match container sizes and shapes for a pleasing vignette.

Get more landscaping and garden design ideas in our Gorgeous Gardens photo gallery.

Boxwood squares and cast-iron urns dramatically divide the flower beds of this handsome garden. The classic farm house is painted Falun Red, which beautifully contrasts the luscious greenery.

Photographer:

Ted Yarwood

Grand Garden Entryway

Casual greenery complements this entrance.

A natural garden adorned with rocks and greenery mark the entrance of this gorgeous home. Using gravel instead of stone pavers lends an unfussy cottage vibe. Landscaping with local trees and shrubs keeps gardening tasks to a minimum.